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Make your own tea loaf!

I love tea loaf and I love the Yorkshire Tea brand, so by combining the two, what could possibly go wrong? That was what I was left wondering when I tucked into this disappointingly bland cake. As far as cakes go, it lacked the second slice factor.
So, if you want a really good tea loaf like no other, make your own using Yorkshire Tea which is so simple that my non-cooking husband makes it:

Method
1. Soak the fruit overnight in the cold tea.
2. The next day, weigh out the flour and sugar.
3. Beat one egg then mix it with the flour and sugar.
4. Grease a loaf tin with butter then lightly dust with flour.
5. Place mixture in the tin and roughly level the top.
6. Bake for approximately 1hr at 180°.
7. Pig out.

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Disapointed in this cake, a weak product in an otherwise excellent portfolio

I'll start by saying that I'm a Yorkshire lad Born and bread (Beverley), and I'm extremely proud of my county.I buy Yorkshire Tea for the simple fact it's from Yorkshire, but also think its the best tasting tea out there and lets be honest the Yorkshire army marches on its tea!

It was only recently that I decided to give this tea loaf a try and it was for the simple reason that it was half price. Normally this cake is priced at over £2 and for the size of the cake I think its quite expensive (Typical tight arse Yorkshire git) At a pound I was certainly prepared to risk it and I'll be honest really looking forward to giving it a try.

I've no idea if tea loaf is different from which I know as fruit cake but the picture on the packet looks the same. When I opened the packed I was quite impressed the cake was fresh and had a lovely moist feel too it. When I cut it the first thing which I noticed was how light it was in colour. I was expecting a much darker colouring and thought, mmmm this doesn't look right. Taking a bite I have to say I was disappointed, to me it lacked flavour and was very bland and appeared to be missing something. This was not a patch on the home made fruit loaf my mum used to bake and I was pretty let down. As I've said it's quite a small cake and I did eat it in one sitting (not hard when you're a strapping 6ft 2" bloke) it went down ok, but I'll not be rushing out to buy another.

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One slice is never enough

The Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea Loaf doesn't normally make it into my shopping basket. For a family of six on a tiny budget it's just a bit too expensive and isn't big enough to go round all of us. That is until my local Coop Foods store was clearing them out at a 75% discount as they were nearly up to the sell-by date. Deal done at 39 pence!

Getting home at teatime, appropriately enough, there was no time to lose. The kettle was on and the Tea Loaf unwrapped. Once open my immediate impression was of a home-made cake in its appearance and aroma. The latter was rich, definitely fruity but not overpowering. Any aroma of tea was too faint to make it to my olfactory bulb though. On the downside the loaf is rather small and I should have bought two (more on this later).

Cutting a slice showed the loaf to be slightly firm and not crumbly, making it easy to cut tidily. I needn't have worried about it being near its sell-by date, it seemed to be perfectly fresh and appetising. I tried a slice on its own and then with butter, which was even better. By now the tea was made so I thought - what about trying a piece toasted? This proved a bit difficult since the slices are very small and once toasted the Tea Loaf goes soft, making it almost impossible to remove from the pop-up toaster. In the end, the best way turned out to be tipping the toaster upside down (mind the crumbs!). Verdict: very nice indeed! The flavour was enhanced and with the butter melting into the hot slices the result was even more satisfying. Remembering that we have a toaster bag, and purely in the interests of science, I popped a couple of slices in the toaster bag and then into the toaster. This worked a treat; I had my toasted Tea Loaf without burning my fingers, risking electrocution from jamming a knife into the toaster or getting a plateful of stale crumbs. That's the way to do it!

By now there was only a small piece left, which I rather shamefacedly put at the back of the kitchen cupboard, hoping I wouldn't be asked - who's eaten all that cake? No luck I'm afraid and another trip required to the Coop before they ran out.

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Another great product to come from the great county that is Yorkshire!

Doing a review on Yorkshire Tea, I also feel it necessary to now review the fantastic Yorkshire Tea Loaf. A lot of people like nothing more than settling down with a mug of tea and a few biscuits. For fans of Yorkshire Tea, the loaf is a great addition to a cup of tea - unbeatable! This isnt any ordinary tea loaf, oh no! The fruit within this tea loaf is especially selected choice fruit, and is very juicy due to the fruit having an overnight soaking in Yorkshire Tea! Yes, the fruit is soaked in tea to give it a unique but subtle flavour and so even if you wish to enjoy a large slice on its own, you can still enjoy tea at the same time. Big juicy cherries are accompanied by raisins and currants.

The only drawback I can see with this tea loaf is that because it is so tasty, you will find it is soon eaten. They are £1 from the Co-op at the moment, which is very good value. Another pointer is also that the packaging they come in isnt ideal because it isnt resealable, you could do with a cake tin or a small sandwich box to store it in. I would say that whilst you are nipping down to your local store to pick up some Yorkshire teabags, grab a tea loaf whilst you are at it. definately worth a try, this is a real treat!

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Perfect

Yorkshire Tea - Tea Loaf.................

I had never seen this cake before I purchased it last week in Morrison's but yet it has been around for some time. The reason I noticed it was because it was half price at a little under £1 and me being the queen of buying anything if it is on offer snapped up a loaf.

The loaf itself is of a good size although for the life of me I cannot find how much in grams is actually contained in the packet. It would serve a good 8 people though with reasonable slices. The packaging is good and gives a very clear idea of what the loaf is like as a very tempting photo of the loaf is plastered across the front.

Until reading the packet I was assuming it was tea loaf because it was perfect to have with a cup of tea but now I realise that the loaf itself is actually infused with the Yorkshire Tea. It is described on the packet as "A delicious fruity cake infused with Yorkshire Tea".

The loaf is housed within the outer cellophane wrapper and then inside this sits nicely in a lovely cardboard container which gives the impression that the loaf was actually baked inside this as the cake is held in to the bottom of it.

The cakes looks just as any other fruit cake would with pieces of sultana sticking out of the top and a rough bumpy surface making it look perfect! The smell coming from the cake is very sweet and fresh and rather mouth watering.

The cake sliced easily, again and again and before long the whole thing was polished off in one morning with the help of two toddlers, myself and my friend. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and after the loaf was gone wanted more.

The loaf is full of fruit and what I especially liked was the plump juicy cherries that it had aplenty! Usually with fruit cakes you have to search for the cherries but these were included in a very generous amount. As were the currants and sultanas and this all added to the moistness of the loaf. I couldn't really taste the tea per say but the loaf is so rich and moist that maybe the tea just adds to this aspect of it.

The packaging states that they use only the highest quality ingredients and nothing unnatural and I guess this is why the use by date is not particularly long. It is however not overly good for the waist line as there is 394 calories and 14.7 grams of fat per 100 grams - although this is hard to gage considering I don't know what the loaf weighs as a whole.

Anyway whatever it cost or whatever the calorie content I am exceptionally pleased with finding such a tasty fruit loaf that I will most certainly be buying it again. I think a 5 out of 5 star rating and an EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH recommendation is in order here.

For allergists there is gluten and eggs of course. There is also an 8% of Yorkshire tea infusion that the fruit is soaked in before baking.

The calories are high at 394 in every 100g with protein of 5g and sugars of 60.3g. Fats of 14.7g are the only other nutritional information listed on the back of the colourful gold and orange wrappers.

Yorkshire tea loaf is light and fruity with plenty of the vine fruits mixed through it, it taste rich and full of flavour with a fluffy sponge base and plenty of cherries mixed through as well making it colourful and golden...

I think this is very tasty and satisfying for a cake of this type, it is very moist and delicious and very natural apart from potassium sorbate preservative and worth five stars even though it is a bit expensive at full price.

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A delicious rich fruity tea loaf.

It seems that Bettys Craft bakery in Harrogate have been extremely busy and are constantly working to create new recipes to add to their already famous range of biscuits and cakes.Take one look at the packaging and you will no doubt recognise it from somewhere. Then it dawns on you that the packaging is of the same design and colour that adorns the boxes of the famous Yorkshire teabags.

I know from reading some reviews that quite a few `Dooyooers` are fans of the strong Yorkshire tea, I am probably in the minority because I much prefer a weaker blend of tea.However I am rather partial to that rich moist Yorkshire Tea cake.

If you can just take a minute to imagine how a good rich celebration cake would taste then that will give you a good overall picture of what you can expect from a Yorkshire Tea Loaf.The cake itself is wrapped well, the rich fruit cake has a paper wrapper around it and then it has been sealed inside of a foil sleeve that confidently displays a picture of the moist fruity cake and proudly announces that it is a Yorkshire Tea Loaf.

When you remove the cake from the wrapper it is suprisingly weighty and that leads you into thinking that it could be altogether heavy and stodgy.But the bakery have thoroughly researched their recipe and when you cut a slice of the cake it is rich and moist but could never be referred to as stodgy.All of the mixed vine fruit which is used in the production of the Yorkshire Tea Loaves is soaked in Yorkshire Tea for 24 hours prior to being added to the cake mixture. The fruit infuses in the tea and then it automatically `plumps up`, so the mixture which is already rich in butter, eggs, cherries and brown sugar is then generously filled with the moist fruit.A touch of mixed spice has been added, a move which pleases me, I always think mixed spice has a lot to offer to any rich cake.

The only drawback has to be the amount of calories that are in one small slice of the Tea loaf, a mammoth 157 calories. If you are looking at enjoying an average sized slice then just double that to be on the safe side.The Yorkshire Tea loaf cuts beautifully, no crumbling or messiness. It would be ideal buttered and if you ever reach the point where you have some that needs to be finished up then a layer of butter on the top would be marvellous.A 400g loaf costs in the region of £1.95, but it is well worth paying that bit extra.

If you decide to try a Yorkshire Tea Loaf and you enjoy it then the bakery have plenty more of their cakes and biscuits for you to try.A chocolate and orange cake and a very moist marmalade cake are available.The range of biscuits on offer are good too, Oat and Honey biscuits, Chocolate Chip biscuits, Ginger Biscuits and the Original biscuits which are very much like a shortbread with less sugar.

Throughout Yorkshire there are a total of six Bettys Cafe Tearooms, where you can go and enjoy a cup of yorkshire tea and some of their delightful cake. Two of their tea rooms are in Harrogate, again there are two in the city of York, one in Northallerton and the remaining one is in Ilkley.For those who arent able to visit in person they do have a website where you can order all sorts of goodies online and have them sent off to your friends and family.Maybe worthwhile taking a look at.

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A fantastic cake and my goodness it keeps well too!

This week I have to confess I had a bit of a cupboard sort out. You know the thing after Christmas; you go through the depths of goodies and find one or two forgotten items, which you make a plan to use up before they expire. I found a Yorkshire Tea Loaf which I had bought with the intention of trying out in December, but after a few mince pies, and a few helpings of Christmas cake and pudding, the fruit cake feelings of desire sort of faded, and this poor soul was left unopened.

I approached it with great trepidation, as I have a complete hatred of any kind of food waste- in fact I don't do it, but Christmas is the only challenge when I buy things not for particular meals or purposes, and so I knew this was going to be a tricky opening. Sell by date 11th December -oh dear two months ago. Need not have worried though because underneath the colourful foil wrap was a beautiful loaf cake of rich fruit in perfect condition, just waiting to be sampled with a cup of tea!

Yorkshire Tea is made by Taylors, who are a longstanding family business dating back over 100 years to 1866, and are based in Yorkshire. They make teas as well as cakes and biscuits, and this cake is special because the fruit is steeped in their tea overnight which makes it moist and delicious. It was the first cake they made and since then others have followed such as the marmalade cake, and the chocolate and orange version. The original one is £1.86 which I think represents a good price for such a fruit filled loaf cake.

So with the tea poured and my slice of cake sitting waiting for me what did I feel? Well first of all guilty for letting such a gorgeous cake lie at the end of a long line of other Christmas goodies neglected, and secondly excited at the thought of trying what looked like a very moist cake.

The cake was enveloped in a study brown paper parchment casing, and the smell was spicy and festive. The amount of fruit in the cake was generous and the aroma was like a boozy Christmas cake, though actually it contains no alcohol. As well as currants, raisins, and sultanas, which make up 22% of the cake, there is also a good sprinkling of glace cherries in there too. The eggs used are free range, and the fat used is butter, and brown sugar sweetens it. There isn't much butter in there though, just enough to keep it really moist as the vine soaked fruits do this successfully.

The Verdict

This taste was really delicious, it didn't seem to have come to any harm at all languishing in my cupboard for two months longer than it should have, and it will certainly be on my shopping list again, because it is an outstanding cake for the price. The slices cut easily, and the spicy flavours and the rich and generous vine fruits together make this a very delicious tea time treat. You can butter it if you like, and of course you can eat it with Wensleydale cheese too! The combination of the salty crumbly cheese with this is really fantastic.

Each cake has a token on the side which you can collect, and when you have enough you can claim free gifts from the website, which I think I might do as I have been very impressed with this, and see myself buying more in the future. You can also save 4 tokens which will enable them to plant one tree in areas of the world which are in desperate need of this! Part of the profit from their sales goes to support a fund called "The trees for life fund" which they set up in 1990 with Oxfam. This is helping to protect areas such as the Amazon rainforest by planting trees, thus safeguarding the habitats of the wildlife which lives there and also the people too!

Yorkshire Tea have recently planted 211,000 trees in the basins of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in India This area is in desperate need of help as it has suffered from the most appalling human suffering due to the effects of climate change and to deforestation. In this area most of the rainfall is in the form of monsoons which wipe out crops and housing as it is so intense and concentrated in two short months, whereas the rest of the year sees only drought. Nearer to home the company have planted trees in the UK to preserve some of Britain's ancient woodlands. There are countless other worldwide projects they are involved with.

Taylors have a strong commitment to fair-trade and sustainable business. They have a queen's award for sustainable development

So with this beautiful cake, made by an ethical company you can't go wrong-it keeps like a dream but next time I don't think it will get the chance!